The Mahabharata of Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa, Volume 2 eBook

SECTION LXVIII

“Bhishma said, ’Hear from me, O king,
this hymn that was uttered by Brahman himself.
This hymn was in days of old communicated by regenerate
Rishis and the gods (to men) on Earth-Narada described
thee as the Master and the Lord of the god of gods
and all the Sadhyas and the celestials, and as one
acquainted with the nature of the Creator of the worlds.
Markandeya spoke of thee as the Past, the Present,
and the Future, and the sacrifice of sacrifices, and
the austerity of austerities. The illustrious
Bhrigu said of thee that thou art the God of the gods,
that thine is the ancient form of Vishnu. Dwaipayana
said of thee that thou art Vasudeva of the Vasus,
the establisher of Sakra, and the God of gods and
all creatures. In days of old on the occasion
of procreating creatures, the sages spoke of thee
as Daksha, the Father of creation. Angiras said
that thou art the creator of all beings. Devala
said of thee that the unmanifest all is thy body,
and the manifest is in thy mind, and that the gods
are all the result of thy breath.[389] With thy heads
is pervaded the heavens, and thy two arms support
the Earth. In thy stomach are three worlds and
thou art the Eternal Being. Even thus do men exalted
by asceticism know thee. Thou art the Sat of Sat,
with Rishis gratified with sight of Self.[390] With
royal sages of liberal minds, never retreating from
battle and having morality for their highest end, thou,
O slayer of Madhu, art, the sole refuse. Even
thus is that illustrious and Supreme Being, viz.,
Hari, adored and worshipped by Sanatkumar and other
ascetics endued with Yoga. The truth about Kesava,
O sire, is now narrated to thee, both in brief and
detail. Turn thy heart in love to Kesava.’”

Sanjaya continued, “Hearing this sacred story,
thy son, O great king, began to regard highly both
Kesava and these mighty car-warriors, viz., the
sons of Pandu. Then, O monarch, Bhishma the son
of Santanu once more addressed thy son, saying, ’Thou
hast now heard truly, O king, about the glory of the
high-souled Kesava and of Nara about which thou hadst
asked me. Thou hast also heard about the object
for which both Nara and Narayana have taken their
births among men. Thou hast also been told the
reason why those heroes are invincible and have never
been vanquished in battle, and why also, O king, the
sons of Pandu are incapable of being slain in battle,
by anybody. Krishna beareth great love for the
illustrious sons of Pandu. It is for this, O king
of kings, that I say, ‘Let peace be made with
the Pandavas.’ Restraining thy passions
enjoy thou the Earth with thy mighty brothers (around
thee). By disregarding the divine Nara and Narayana,
thou shalt certainly be destroyed. Having said
these words, thy sire, became silent, O monarch, and
dismissing the king, entered his tent. And the
king also came back to his (own) tent, having worshipped
the illustrious grandsire. And then, O bull of
Bharata’s race, he laid himself down on his white
bed for passing the night in sleep.”